TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

CH 1-7 STUDY GUIDE

Who is the narrator of the story?

Jean Lousie “Scout” Finch

What is the setting of Harper Lee’s To Kill A

Mockingbird

Maycomb, Alabama in the mid 1930s

Who is Scout’s father? What does he do for a

living?

Atticus Finch

He is a lawyer and state legislator

Where is Scout and Jem’s mother?

She died of a heart attack when Scoutwas 2 years old, and Jem was 6

After Arthur “Boo” Radleygets in trouble with the law,

what does his father do?

Rather than allow him to go to anindustrial school, he convinces the judgeto place him in his custody. He thenkeeps him inside the house for some 15years

How does Boo retaliate against

his father? What happens tohim following the incident?

He stabs his father in the leg with a pair of

scissors He is locked in the courthouse basement

untilhis father finally takes him back home

Who comes to stay next doorat Rachel Haverford’s home?

Where did he come from?

A little boy named Charles “Dill” Harris Meridian, Mississippi

What do the children plan to achieve

before the end of the summer?Whose idea was this?

They want to get Boo Radley out of thehouse It’s Dill’s idea

Describe some of the fears and

superstitions the townspeoplehave about Boo Radley

People claim he peeped in windows at night

He allegedly froze azaleas by breathing on

them He supposedly killed and mutilated

animals

Why does Miss Caroline become

angry with Scout?

Scout knows how to read and write, andMiss Caroline believed that she shouldbe the one to teach her how to do this Scout tells Miss Caroline that she hasshamed Walter Cunningham by offeringhim money to buy lunch

Why won’t Walter Cunningham

take the quarter from MissCaroline?

Because, even though he is poor, he, likethe rest of his family, is proud and won’ttake anything he can’t pay back

Why does Scout attack WalterCunningham? What does this

leadJem to do?

She believes it was Walter’s fault that shegot in trouble with Miss Caroline on thefirst day of school Feeling sorry for what his sister did, Jeminvites Walter to dinner at their house

When Walter gets near the Finchhouse, Scout says he “had forgottenhe was a Cunningham.” What does

she mean?

He was going to accept a meal from theFinches, which was unlike theCunninghams, who wouldn’t acceptanything they couldn’t somehow payback

Why does Calpurnia scold Scout?

Because Scout embarrasses WalterCunningham when she questions whyhe pours molasses all over his food. Calpurnia tells Scout Walter is theircompany and should be treated withrespect

What leads to Burris Ewell’s leavingschool before the day is over? And

what does Little Chuck Little do thatprompts Burris to leave?

He is told by Miss Caroline to go homeand wash after she spots a louse in hishair He tells Burris he would just as soon killhim as look at him

What does it mean to climbinto someone’s skin and walk

around in it?

That you cannot truly judge a personuntil you know their background and seehow they live

Who’s the “meanest oldwoman who ever lived”?

Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose

What does Atticus catch thechildren doing that upsets

him?

They are playing “Boo Radley,” and Atticus sees this as being disrespectful to the Radley family

What did Scout hear aftercrashing into the Radley Place

in a tire?

She heard laughter coming from insidethe house

Who is Miss Maudie Atkinsonand what’s her relationship

with Scout?

She is the Finches’ outspoken neighborwho befriends and serves as a motherfigure for Scout, who often comes to herwith questions

What does Maudie say aboutBoo?

She tells Scout that, as a child, he alwaysspoke nicely to her and that, if he’s notcrazy, he should be by now

How do the children try tosend a message to Boo? What

does the message say?

By attaching a note to a fishing line on abamboo pole and trying to stick the note in aloose shutter on the Radley Place It asks Boo really politely to come out and tellthem what he does in there. Also that theywouldn’t hurt him and they would like to buyhim ice cream

What is the children’s newplan in Chapter 6?

To look into the Radley Place to see ifthey can get a glimpse of Boo Radley

What does Jem lose when he and

the others go to the Radley Place?

He loses his pants, which he catches onthe fence while trying to crawl under it,after he, Scout and Dill flee upon seeinga shadowy figure on the Radley’s porch

What brave act does Jem perform by

himself ? Why does he do it?

He returns to the Radley Place in orderto retrieve his pants He says Atticus never whipped him andhe meant to keep it that way. He doesn’twant to disappoint Atticus

What was unusual about Jem’s pants

when he retrieved them from thefence?

The appeared to have been mended bysomeone who wasn’t a woman And they were placed there as ifsomeone knew Jem would return forthem

What is symbolic about thebroken pocket watch?

It symbolizes that, for Boo Radley, time,in effect, stopped when his fatherdecided to lock him away as a teenager.As a result, he hasn’t grown into normaladulthood; he remains childlike

What does Nathan Radley do tothe tree where the gifts are placed,and why do you think he did this?

He fills the knothole with cement He wants to stop Boo fromcommunicating with the children

Atticus says the tree is healthy. Nathan Radley says it is sick. How

then can the tree serve as a symbol for Boo Radley?

Like the tree, Boo was treated by hisfamily as if he were sick when, in fact,he was a normal, healthy teenager priorto be locked away

How does Jem respond to the tree being plugged with cement, and why do you

think he responds this way? He cries Because he feels sorry for Boo, knowinghe’s been cut off from the world by hisfamily